We recently traded in our 7 year old Golf Sportwagon for a 2424 VW Taos. It's their smallest SUV, and is about 2" higher, much better for NM back roads. We only did one back road on our recent trip, so hopefully more to come next year. Our previous car got 43 mpg. I doubt this beast will even come close. We shall see.
We are due for some winter temperatures later this week, and on into next. So far the November astronomy session has been a bust. If we do happen to get a clear night (not predicted), it will likely be too windy and cold to be of much use anyway. Most of our leaves are now down, and the fields are harvested and ploughed. It looks pretty grim around here, and will do so until mid April.
In film news, Deb keeps getting awards and showings. She has one in New York and Berlin most recently, with London coming soon. She is now filming (stop motion) her latest work, based on a Polish horror story.
In film watching news, there are three to report. Most recent was another viewing of the very hokey and trop-heavy b&w classic The House on Haunted Hill. It's from 1959, stars Vincent Price, and was directed by William Castle. The climactic ending is probably the hokiest horror film ending ever put to film, and must be seen to be depreciated. Price will pay a group of five invited guests $10,000.00 to stay overnight in his haunted mansion (exterior shots show a house in LA designed by Frank Lloyd Wright). I think I would need that much incentive just to watch this film again. Totally silly but somehow its ridiculous effects and plot are charming enough. Beware the hired help. And the "walking" plastic skeleton.
Before that came Lost and Beautiful, an Italian film from 2015, directed by Pietro Marcello. It began as a documentary about the volunteer caretaker of a vast and abandoned Italian country palace. However, the man actually died partway through filming. What to do? Actually, I'm still not quite sure. In comes Pulcinella, who seems to be an animal rights advocate as well as a messenger before here and the afterlife. His presence allows a story to be told, mostly from the viewpoint of a water buffalo calf (it's complicated). Strange and unusual does not begin to describe this tale, which is kind of like a fairy tale. Lots of puzzling things happen as Pulcinella attempts to lead the calf to safety. A cry in the wilderness for leaving animals alone, rather than torturing, killing, and eating them. Good luck with that. If quirky is your thing, then I can recommend this film.
Those were my two weekly picks. Earlier we watched Deb's 2nd pick on Criterion (streaming, of course). Wild Wheels is a documentary from 1992 and directed by Harold Blank. We get to see an array of bizarrely decorated and driveable autos, from the director's own VW bug to just about anything one could imagine sticking on a car. For instance, one car is decorated with buttons. Another with mirrors. Another with a scale model city on its roof. The coolest one, though, is from a guy who actually grows grass on the car, waters it until green, and then takes it out for a drive. A fun film, even if you don't like cars.
Mapman Mike
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